The growth of mobile crypto services due to the push for mobile payments has enhanced the explosive growth of mobile wallets in Africa. In this article, we will provide specific information on how mobile wallets are booming in Africa.
Overview of mobile wallets in Africa
While European countries are replacing the use of cash with payment cards, African countries do not have the infrastructure to rely solely on card payment products. Therefore, many people are being encouraged to switch to using mobile money as an alternative form of payment. And it is worth noting that the number of users of mobile wallets increased significantly.
The growth of Africa’s mobile crypto services has recently gained new momentum as these countries step up their push for mobile payments to reduce cash exchanges. This is also an impact on the use of mobile wallets exploding in Africa.
The top two countries in Africa, Kenya, and Nigeria, also recorded more than 80% and 60% of Internet users, respectively, making payments with mobile phones, specifically mobile wallets.
Why is mobile wallets blooming in Africa?
Africa is forecast to have more than half a billion e-commerce users by 2025 and an e-commerce penetration rate to reach 40% by 2025. This is a growth figure that surpasses Asia, the existing content that has the highest number of e-commerce users in the world. The growth in the use of e-commerce has stimulated mobile wallet payments in Africa to bloom.
Mobile wallets in Africa are used more because it brings many benefits to users. It provides greater transparency, users can track their transactions, keep a record of their payments and issue refund requests if needed.
Moreover, more and more utilities from mobile wallet service providers make this market here busier than ever. Users also always take advantage of those benefits to make their shopping experience more comfortable.
Some popular mobile wallets in Africa
With 46 million users worldwide, MTN is also a standout mobile wallet in Africa in terms of brand recognition and acceptance. It provides services in Rwanda, South Africa, the Republic of the Congo, and at least 22 other countries in Africa and the Middle East. This is also a wallet with wider coverage than other types in Africa.

Orange Money is part of Orange Group, launched in 2008, and has now become one of the most popular mobile wallets in Africa. This type of wallet has about 45 million users, just slightly less than MTN. It is also available in 18 countries on the continent, so it is one of MTN’s biggest competitors in many places.

M-Pesa is also a popular mobile wallet, operating in 7 African countries. Even so, this mobile wallet still reaches a large number of citizens of the continent. The majority of their customers are concentrated in Kenya, which has over 41.5 million active users. A major driver of their popularity is their customer service. As their user base grew, they grew their reseller network at a similar rate.

Conclusion
The boom in e-commerce, and the rise of e-payments, has made the use of mobile wallets in Africa grow like never before. Contact us if you need help with the payment method at your business.
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